"News Radio WORD" is a trimulcast of 106.3 FM WYRD licensed to Simpsonville, South Carolina, 1330 AM WYRD licensed to Greenville, SC and 950 AM WORD licensed to Spartanburg, SC.
For almost a quarter century, Simpsons creator Matt Groening has kept the location of the show a secret. The family lives in Springfield but it was never revealed which state it was in. (There are 13 cities, 11 towns and 14 townships in the United States named Springfield.) In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, Groening said that the fictional town was named after Springfield, Oregon.
1050 AM KORE is a Religious station licensed to Springfield-Eugene, Oregon and a sure favorite of Ned Flanders.
Harry Chapin's "W*O*L*D" tells the rather depressing story of a middle-aged radio disc-jockey who drifts from job to job only to discover that his life, looks and voice have passed him by. The song was inspired by Jim Connors, a DJ at WMEX in Boston who is credited with discovering the singer and helping his earlier song "Taxi" become a hit. When performing live, Chapin often changed the call letters in the lyrics near the end of the song to fit a local station. The version below was recorded in Los Angeles where he changed it to "KHJ". In the last performance before his death in July, 1981 he changed it to "WKRP" (even though the concert was in Canada.) "W*O*L*D was a major inspiration for Hugh Wilson when creating the hit television series "WKRP in Cincinnati."
Twelve years before Chapin's "W*O*L*D" became a hit in 1974, an actual station from Marion, Virginia with the WOLD call letters signed on the air. It's unclear what year this sticker is from; a randomly chosen Broadcast Yearbook (1980) lists the AM as being Modern Country and the FM as Adult Contemporary. The pots of gold suggest they might have been a (Golden) Oldies station at one time or maybe it's a play on the call letters. 1330 AM is currently WITM and carries a Religious format while 102.5 FM is a Classic Rock station known as "The Renegade."
A sticker and magnet from Adult Contemporary WCRZ "Cars 108" in Flint, Michigan. 107.9 FM went on the air in 1961 as WGMZ with an MOR/Easy Listening format. They became WCRZ in 1984.
A magnet from WOOD, a News/Talker in Grand Rapids, Michigan which went on the air in 1924 as WEBK. The station's original owners we backed by the Furniture Manufacturers Association of Grand Rapids who suggested a call letter change to WOOD in 1926. The station's mascot is Willie Wood, a cartoon woodpecker who's been in use since 1951. You can see Willie at the station's website.
Longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace got his first job in broadcasting at WOOD in 1939. He passed away yesterday at age 93.
95.3 KUIC is an Adult Contemporary station licensed to Vacaville, California. Their sticker is similar to that of sister stations KKDV in Walnut Creek, CA and KKIQ in Livermore, CA which can be seen here. And here. And here.
"101.3 The Fox" WCUZ was a Classic Rock station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They've since added more new rock to their playlist and changed calls to WBFX to better align with the "Fox" imaging.
Today I received an unexpected package of foreign radio stickers from a frequent RSotD visitor from Sweden. They were all new to me and most were from Australia and England. Thanks Börje!
3MP (3 Mornington Peninsula) is a music-based station in Melbourne, Australia. They started broadcasting in 1976 with a 50/50 mix of Top-40 and Oldies before switching to Beautiful Music in 1985. In 2010 3MP flipped to a Talk format known as MTR 1377 (Melbourne Talk Radio.) Just three days ago it was reported that, amidst a legal and financial situation, the Talk is gone and replaced with Easy Listening music.
1450 KONE was an Adult Contemporary station in Reno, Nevada. They also apparently carried Oakland Athletics baseball games as this sticker celebrates their 1989 World Series championship. The Series that year was most remembered by the Loma Prieta earthquake which struck just before Game 3 and delayed the series by 10 days. By 1991 1450 AM had flipped to Country as KOZZ and the frequency is currently home to Spanish-language Sports station KHIT, an ESPN Deportes affiliate.
A 1994 sticker from "The Great 98" KFWJ in Lake Havasu City, Arizona which carried an Oldies/Nostalgia format. 980 AM is currently News/Talk/Sports KNTR.
It's the Jayhawks vs the Wildcats as Kansas and Kentucky meet in college basketball's championship game tonight in New Orleans. The matchup features the two winningest programs in college basketball history.
91.5 KANU is the flagship station of Kansas Public Radio based at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. They signed on the air in 1952 and later became the first noncommercial FM station to broadcast in stereo. They are also charter members of National Public Radio.
Stickers from KJHK, the University of Kansas' student-run station, can be seen here.
Broadcasting from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, WUKY mixes Adult Album Alternative music with programming from NPR. 91.3 FM first went on the air in 1940 (as WBKY) and was the first university-owned station in the United States. They switched their call letters to WUKY in 1989 to better reflect their affiliation with the (W)University of KentuckY.
CKDX "88.5 The Kat" was a Country station in Toronto, Ontario. They had flipped formats from Dance to Country in July 1999 but it lasted less than a year and in June 2000 they switched again, this time to Rhythmic Oldies. 88.5 FM is currently "The Jewel," a Soft Adult Contemporary station. CKDX is licensed to Newmarket, ON.
Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire for the first time on this date in 1967. He was playing at the Astoria Theatre in London and ended up in the hospital with burned fingers. He repeated the stunt a few months later at the Monterey Pop Festival (with no burns this time.)
A magnet from Classic Rock WLUP "The Loop" in Chicago, Illinois.
Radio Pulce (Radio Flea) is based in Florence, Italy. They went on the air in 1990 and appear to play Rock music (a gallery of clsssic rock album covers can be found on their website) along with Italian music from the "Magnificent 8" (Mina, Battisti, Baglioni, Celentano, Venditti, Morandi, Vanoni and Dalla.)
Radio City is a Rock station in Helsinki, Finland. They went on the air in 1985 shortly after the Finnish government began granting licenses to private broadcasters.
A photo of an oversized sticker from around 1999. Radio City currently broadcasts at 99.4 FM.